Blood - "Milk Blood Heat"

Blood is a symbol of both womanhood and death in the story "Milk Blood Heat." The story begins with Kiera and Ava both cutting themselves and dripping blood into a bowl, then mixing it with milk and drinking it to become "Blood sisters" (2). Soon after, Kiera starts her first period, which makes her "a woman now" while Ava is "still merely a girl" (6). Ava starts her first period shortly after Kiera's death at the end of the story. The multiple mentions of blood are in keeping with the story's themes of death and adolescence—the time when girls transition from childhood to womanhood—and also foreshadow Kiera's suicide.

Octopus - "Feast"

The octopus that Rayna sees in the aquarium eating its own tentacles at the end of "Feast" is a symbol of Rayna's grief over her miscarriage. When the events of the...